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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Guest Post and Giveaway: Stepping Off a Cliff (The St. Augustine Trilogy #2) by Doug Dillon

Description:

An otherworldly, evil and dangerous force infests America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. Everyone living there, or visiting, is at risk in ways too horrible to imagine.

Standing between this invader and the people of St. Augustine are teenagers Jeff and Carla, the mysterious Native American shaman, Lobo, and Lyle, the homeless guy.

In their quest to save themselves and all the inhabitants of this ancient Florida city, Jeff and Carla uncover lost parts of St. Augustine history, push past the limits of space and time, and come face-to-face with what they come to realize are the true walking dead.

GUEST POST
What is so special about St. Augustine, Florida that has drawn you to base your books around it?

First of all, St. Augustine is the oldest and most haunted city in the United States. That fits perfectly with wanting to write a paranormal/historical trilogy for young adults and adults young at heart. I’m an old history teacher and I’ve been studying the paranormal for a very long time.

You see, that location dates back to the time when the Spanish first settled Florida in 1565. The historical district of St. Augustine is laid out as the Spanish set it up hundreds of years ago and the massive stone fort they built there in 1695, the Castillo de San Marcos, still exists as a U.S. National Monument. Add in the gorgeous hotels Henry Flagler built in the old city during the 1880s and you have a fascinating mix of wonderful architectural styles.

And when I say it’s a haunted town, I mean just that. Ghost stories abound about St. Augustine and they have more ghost tours than any other place I’ve ever been. Paranormal investigation teams go there all the time, the best known of them being Ghost Hunters. Their investigation of the St. Augustine Lighthouse is really startling. If you haven’t seen that particular session, I really recommend you check it out. I believe you can find it on Youtube.

In addition to all that, my family and I just flat love the place. From Orlando where we live, we go there often. In fact, my daughter held her wedding reception there in a house that dates from 1797. 

One final item. Long after I started writing The St. Augustine Trilogy, I found out that an ancestor of mine served with the Union troops that occupied St. Augustine during the Civil War. And as I studied the man’s newly discovered history, I found incredible parallels to the plot of Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I in the trilogy. Since I don’t believe in coincidences, I think The St. Augustine Trilogy is definitely a direct result of that old family connection we have with the city.

About the author:

A former award winning educator, Doug writes about things paranormal and historical. His interest in the paranormal comes from personal experiences as detailed in the nonfiction adult book he and wife wrote titled, An Explosion of Being: An American Family's Journey into the Psychic. Out of those events and extensive historical research, he then created Sliding Beneath the Surface for young adults, Book I of the St. Augustine Trilogy. Doug set his trilogy in the oldest and most haunted city in the United States, St. Augustine, Florida. 

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